The Limited Edition Spaceship: Mass Effect
by LJAndersen
Summary: "What the hell is this?" Shepard slammed something down on the table. Kaidan Alenko lowered the sandwich from his mouth. He'd been wondering when she'd find it. One shot set in Mass Effect 1, Shenko.


"What the hell is this?" Shepard slammed something down on the table in front of him.

Kaidan lowered the sandwich from his mouth. Silverware rattled on the metal dining table. Williams and Wrex spared them a glance from the end of the table, then returned to an argument about the M-27 Scimitar versus M-22 Evicerator.

Shepard's eyes burned on Kaidan. He struggled to swallow his bite and smiled at her. An oblong figure of gray plastic teetered by his plate.

"Looks like a model ship, ma'am," he said.

"And, what's it doing in my locker, Lieutenant?" Shepard leaned forward on her palms.

"Your tone sounds accusatory, Commander." Kaidan bit into his sandwich.

Shepard ripped it out of his hand. The meat dragged out from between his teeth before he could let go. She plopped it on the plate in front of him. "There. Now, you can answer me without flashing bits of half-chewed ham."

"Turkey actually."

"It's ham." Shepard sat across from him. "You're not getting me to check."

"Damnit." Kaidan smirked. He folded his hands on the table. "You know your lunch meats."

"The toy ship …" Shepard jutted her chin at it.

"Why do you think I have anything to do with it?" Kaidan said.

Shepard gave him a flat look. "You were the only one there when we saw it."

"Huh." Kaidan frowned up at the ceiling with concentration and tipped back in his metal chair. "Yeah, hmm … when did – oh, right, right. Citadel. Presidium. Second level."

"It was the window display," Shepard filled in. "You know, I was just watching the reflection, right? Best way to track that thug following us."

"You gasped and said, 'UT-47 Kodiak? Out already?'"

"I …" Shepard shifted in her chair. "That was part of the ruse. Thug was a batarian. Excellent hearing."

"You were dead on with the model type. Product release date too. Came out that day."

"I know my ships." Shepard shrugged. "And, it looked fresh out of the box."

"How'd you know it was a limited edition?"

Shepard's lips parted, brow creasing. "When did I –"

"Under your breath. I have batarian-level hearing."

"Just a guess. Made my career on good ones."

Kaidan's chair legs snapped back to the floor. He sat forward. "Damn good guesser. What number am I thinking?"

Shepard rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "So, this toy ship's a gift? I'm not a twelve-year-old boy."

"You wanted the batarian to overhear you, right? Your ruse. Maybe _he_ got it for you. Heard what you did to Fist, and it's a peace offering."

"Uh huh. Sneaked aboard, worked out my locker combination, and left a gift, sans the card saying, 'Love, The Thug."

"Sounds far fetched, you put it that way." Kaidan chewed his lip and squinted at the far wall. "I mean, a locker combination of 1-2-3-4 _is _notoriously uncrackable. Good thing you never listened to anyone who suggested changing it."

"Didn't anticipate a batarian thug leaving a peace offering."

"I thought you built your career on guessing."

Shepard's lips pursed. She eyed him a long moment, cast a glance around them, then hunched forward and lowered her voice. "Think it's really a peace offering when the batarian held back the ship's information booklet?"

"Well," Kaidan hunched forward and lowered his voice in mirror, "inventory your locker later. Maybe you'll find you overlooked it."

"How much later?" Shepard's eyes darted to the model ship at Kaidan's elbow.

"You're a good guesser. How long does it take to eat half a ham sandwich?" Kaidan pulled his plate over. "You know, Commander, if a batarian thug gave me a model ship, and say, I had more – maybe, I don't know, under my bed or something –" Shepard's lips thinned, eyes slit, but Kaidan continued. "And if, hypothetically, I had a private room like yours, I might put up a nice, glass display case to see them all."

Shepard's jaw moved as if working for words. Her voice exploded out. "How do you …"

"And perhaps, I'd be so excited about my model ships, I'd show a quarian my collection. I might even tell her not to tell anyone. But then, she might just make someone else promise the same thing when she told him. But, he wouldn't tell anybody." Kaidan picked up his sandwich and grinned. "Hypothetically." He took a bite.

"Alenko …" Shepard drummed her fingers on the table. "You enjoy bothering all your COs like this?"

Her irises, deep blue like open ocean, gazed back at him. A bite of ham went down with a big gulp. His heart picked up pace.

"Only you, Commander," he said softly and smiled.

"Hmm." Shepard rapped her nails on the tabletop one last time and stood. She paused by her chair and eyed the model ship.

Kaidan lifted it up. "May want to hang onto that, Commander. A peace offering from a thug? Not everyday you find that."

"Right." Shepard snatched it from his fingertips. "Not everyday I'll find _something_."

She grumbled, tucked it under one arm, but still lingered.

Kaidan chewed his sandwich. "Probably take me five minutes to finish half a ham sandwich. If you were guessing."

"Might like to find the original box too." Shepard gazed around them idly.

"Probably got tossed."

Shepard's eyes widened and snapped to his face, body going rigid.

"Or maybe not." Kaidan flashed a smile. "Really, though, you should put up a glass display case."

"To display what?" Shepard asked pointedly. The corner of her lip curved up, and she patted the ship under her arm almost absently. "Eat faster. That's an order."

"Aye, aye, ma'am."

She squeezed his arm as she passed. He grinned over his shoulder and watched her disappear around the corner, eyes lingered long after she was gone. He turned back to his sandwich with a soft smile and took another bite.


End file.
